farrahsc
New Member
I've really debated on posting this but my hope is maybe one day it will help someone else.
My WC Senegal juvenile that hasn't been acclimating very well had a major accident night before last. He has only eaten 6 crickets in the 2 weeks he has been with me and even with misting 4 times a day, a dripper, showers 2x a week and using a small syringe to drip water into his mouth he was still showing signs of dehydration. So when I came home from work the other night I went to look in on him first as I always do and he was standing on his branch by his bowl looking at the crickets and worms (I cup feed him to count the number he is eating). Well of coarse I got super excited! So I walked away and went to take a bath. When I came out there was something red running down his side. I was like what in the world??? So I took him out of his cage and noticed the red thing was pulsating! It was his tongue!
Some how I guess he caught his tongue on something and ripped it off! I was devastated! All I could think was this poor little guy is going to die, there is no way he is strong enough to live through this. I sat and held him wrapped in a warm wash cloth and a towel for 3 hours crying trying to decide what would be the best thing for me to do. Do I take him and have him put to sleep, do I try to syringe feed him until he can learn to eat on his own if he makes it that long? I didn't want him to suffer but I decided I was going to try and see what could be done.
I opened his mouth and noticed that his tongue was gone all the way to the bone. I knew from reading other posts on here that this wasn't going to be good. If he was in perfect health maybe, but not in the shape he is in. I mean the poor little guy is covered with bruises and scratches from his journey, dehydrated, and now unable to eat. I put him back in his cage and thought if he makes it through the night then I will call around to vets in the morning.
The vets here are useless when it comes to chams but I found one that told me to get some antibacterial medicine that they make for reptiles and mix in it with his water and that maybe I could smash up some worms and try to feed him that way.
Well that wasn't good enough for me so I got the medicine, some chicken and squash baby food and some pedialyte. I've been mixing a little of each of the baby foods, the medicine and some pedialyte together and syringe feeding it to him. He gets 0.2 cc's of straight pedialyte and 0.2 cc's of the food/medicine mixture every day.
He is learning how to swallow again and it's a very slow process. It takes about 45 minutes to feed him since I drop a little in his mouth and then allow him to walk along my hands arms until I know he is done eating that bit and then on to the next.
I will do this for the rest of his life if I have to.
He seems to be doing pretty well considering. He's been a bit more active and spending lots of time under his UVB bulb. I'm doing even more mistings as well trying to keep him hydrated and as soon as I can get a good fresh poop from him he is getting a fecal done.
I feel terrible about this and would give anything for this not to have happened. I just really hope the little guy makes it and that I made the right choice by trying to save him.
My WC Senegal juvenile that hasn't been acclimating very well had a major accident night before last. He has only eaten 6 crickets in the 2 weeks he has been with me and even with misting 4 times a day, a dripper, showers 2x a week and using a small syringe to drip water into his mouth he was still showing signs of dehydration. So when I came home from work the other night I went to look in on him first as I always do and he was standing on his branch by his bowl looking at the crickets and worms (I cup feed him to count the number he is eating). Well of coarse I got super excited! So I walked away and went to take a bath. When I came out there was something red running down his side. I was like what in the world??? So I took him out of his cage and noticed the red thing was pulsating! It was his tongue!
Some how I guess he caught his tongue on something and ripped it off! I was devastated! All I could think was this poor little guy is going to die, there is no way he is strong enough to live through this. I sat and held him wrapped in a warm wash cloth and a towel for 3 hours crying trying to decide what would be the best thing for me to do. Do I take him and have him put to sleep, do I try to syringe feed him until he can learn to eat on his own if he makes it that long? I didn't want him to suffer but I decided I was going to try and see what could be done.
I opened his mouth and noticed that his tongue was gone all the way to the bone. I knew from reading other posts on here that this wasn't going to be good. If he was in perfect health maybe, but not in the shape he is in. I mean the poor little guy is covered with bruises and scratches from his journey, dehydrated, and now unable to eat. I put him back in his cage and thought if he makes it through the night then I will call around to vets in the morning.
The vets here are useless when it comes to chams but I found one that told me to get some antibacterial medicine that they make for reptiles and mix in it with his water and that maybe I could smash up some worms and try to feed him that way.
Well that wasn't good enough for me so I got the medicine, some chicken and squash baby food and some pedialyte. I've been mixing a little of each of the baby foods, the medicine and some pedialyte together and syringe feeding it to him. He gets 0.2 cc's of straight pedialyte and 0.2 cc's of the food/medicine mixture every day.
He is learning how to swallow again and it's a very slow process. It takes about 45 minutes to feed him since I drop a little in his mouth and then allow him to walk along my hands arms until I know he is done eating that bit and then on to the next.
I will do this for the rest of his life if I have to.
He seems to be doing pretty well considering. He's been a bit more active and spending lots of time under his UVB bulb. I'm doing even more mistings as well trying to keep him hydrated and as soon as I can get a good fresh poop from him he is getting a fecal done.
I feel terrible about this and would give anything for this not to have happened. I just really hope the little guy makes it and that I made the right choice by trying to save him.
